'Primary school mergers not a plan for survival'

Education minister Christine Choi on Sunday said a government plan for under-enrolled primary schools to merge is not designed to save them from closure as she called on sponsoring bodies to plan ahead in case of insufficient pupil intakes. A record 15 schools – including one government and 14 subsidised institutions – have been barred from running a primary one class next academic year after failing to secure at least 16 pupils. The institutions with low enrolment could opt to merge with another school, close, or go private. "The merger is not a strategy for schools to save themselves when they can't run any primary one class, or to keep the institutions," Choi told a TVB programme. "We hope that school sponsoring bodies will not only think about this year, but consider the long term." Asked about possible changes to the 16-pupil threshold, the minister said the current administration has no plans to make adjustments. Edited by Tony Sabine